Safe and Sound
by Darth Luffy
Summary: Picks up after Lara returns from killing the Sun Queen. Much has happened to both Lara and her crewmates in the last few days, but the adventures are not over yet. No this is just the beginning for a young Lara Croft and the friends that accompany her.
1. Chapter 1

Safe and Sound

It was over. Sam was safe, the Sun Queen was truly dead, and the storms had finally broken allowing them to leave. Setting her weapons down on the deck she shrugged off the old bomber jacket she had found, and set down beside where Sam lay. The older girl was currently asleep, her right arm in a makeshift sling, broken after resisting Matthias one too many times.

"How is she?" Jonah asked, looking back at them worriedly from his spot by the gunwale. Reyes perked up as well, obviously listening but keeping her eyes ahead on the ocean in front of them.

"Physically she's fine, apart from the arm. There's a bite on her foot that looks like it might have been from a wolf but it's been treated already." Came the weary reply from Lara. The bite must have been what Matthias had treated to help gain her trust before she'd found her. Glancing back down at the girl her brow furrowed slightly. "Other than that I think she's just tired. She was barely conscious coming back down and she kept mumbling to herself, saying things like that, 'That stupid Queen should have known better that to try to hurt.. me ".

"Mmmm… stupid bitchy queen.." Mumbled Sam as she shifted so her head lay partially on Lara's lap. Lara just gave look Jonah a look as if to say 'see what I mean'. Absentmindedly she started to run her fingers through Sam's hair as she continued, "I think she was fighting back against Himeko taking possession, and that's why she's so tired right now."

"How do you even fight back against something like that?" Reyes asked, confirming that she had indeed been listening.

"I'm not sure. Willpower, perhaps? All I know is that she was able to hold out against Himeko until I got to her and… and that the lightning kept missing." Lara replied, a look of realization showing as she said the last part. "The lightning kept missing… that's what same meant. Himeko was trying to hit me with it but Sam wasn't letting her."

"Come on Lara, are you saying that Sam was interfering with the weather?" Reyes questioned, incredulity dripping from her voice.

"Himeko was able to bring down our ship, a plane, and a helicopter, not to mention who knows how much more over the years and yet she suddenly couldn't hit me?" Lara said, convinced she was right. Looking down at the sleeping girl once more she smiled. "You were protecting me, all while I was trying to save you."

"… couldn't let.. couldn't let her.. hurt you.." Sam mumbled again, moving closer to Lara as she did so.

Reyes spared a look behind her at them before returning her gaze forward, "Hell, I guess it makes as much sense as anything else on that damned island did."

Walking back to where they were Jonah spoke up again, "People can do amazing things if they're determined to." Setting one large hand on Lara's shoulder he looked down at her. "What you did was incredible and it's thanks to you that we were able to leave. Now, why don't you catch up on some of that sleep you've denied yourself for too long?"

Shaking her head, Lara tried to deny Jonah, "No, I'm fine.. Really, I should stay awake in case of…"

"In case of what?" Reyes said, cutting her off mid argument. "We're on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Me and Jonah can handle everything here. Now get some sleep, you look like death warmed over right now."

Jonah shook his head at Reyes' description, "It'll be alright, little bird. We'll wake you as soon as we make contact with another ship."

Seeing she was outnumbered, and in all honesty about to fall asleep anyway, Lara nodded her consent. "Fine, you win. But you had better wake me as soon as a ship contacts us." Shifting slightly to use the back rest as a pillow she closed her eyes to go to sleep. While not the most comfortable accommodations she's ever had, after the last few days it felt like heaven. They were safe after all, they were safe and they were headed home.

* * *

"Lara.. Lara, come on Lara, you need to get up now."

"Huh.. Sam, what's going on?" A still groggy Lara asked. Sam had apparently awoken sometime before her and Lara was now using the other girl's shoulder as a pillow. Raising up her head she shook it slightly to clear it of sleep, taking in that that several hours had passed and was now night… and that there was a large floodlight shining on them. Adrenaline pumped through her, pushing the last remnants of sleep out, grasping the grip of her pistol she made to draw before she was stopped by Sam moving in front of her.

"Hey there, easy now." Sam said, glad that she was able to stop her before something bad had happened. Bringing her eyes to lock with Lara's she sought to reassure her that everything was okay. "It's ok, Lara. They're here to help us, it's just a cargo ship that answered our distress call, and they're probably on edge enough without you shooting out their lights."

Fully taking in her surroundings Lara noticed that it was indeed a cargo ship she had been about to shoot, flying Japanese colors if she wasn't mistaken. And much like Sam had said the few crewmen she could see did look to be on edge, as did Jonah and Reyes. "Sam, what's going on? Why does everyone look so nervous?"

A small smile played on Sam's lips as she answered, "Why does the crew of a cargo ship in the South China Sea look nervous about answering a distress call that leads the to an old patrol boat armed with machine guns?" Looking at herself and Lara she grimaced slightly before continuing, "Not to mention the two girls in bloodstained clothes sitting back here."

Glancing around Lara had to admit she had a point, the South China Sea was pretty volatile anyways and running across a patrol boat like theirs would be enough to set anyone on edge. As for herself and Sam, well they had certainly been better dressed. Sam's previously white dress had its fair share of bloodstains now, almost all transferred from Lara's clothes. The combat vest she had found was now about three shades darker than it started as, due to the amount of blood spilled on it and what was left of her pants wasn't much better with the various tears, burn marks, and bloodstains. Briefly she considered putting her jacket back on but one look at it changed her mind, it was as bloody as the rest and had pieces of what might have been brain on it as will, most likely from the giant oni she had killed.

"Ok, I'll admit you might have a point." Lara responded, embarrassed that she'd almost shot their saviors.

"Glad you think so." Sam replied cheekily, returning to her spot beside Lara she stretched her legs out in front of her. It felt good to be able to relax some after what they'd been through. Turning slightly to face Lara she continued to explain the situation. "We got pretty lucky it was this ship. Apparently the first mate served with Reyes on the Endurance before and was able to vouch for her. That along with the reputation Roth and Grim had in this area was enough to convince the captain to send a boat over for us."

Roth and Grim, even from beyond the grave the two were still finding ways to help her. The fact that they'd run into an old crewmate was surprising but not unbelievable, many had served on the Endurance over the years before leaving for better jobs.

"What about our weapons?" Lara asked, fingers ghosting over her pistol grip. Whereas before she had been nervous carrying a weapon, she found the now familiar weight more comfortable than she would've thought possible.

To her surprise it wasn't Sam that answered her but Reyes instead as she and Jonah walked back to where they were. "They've agreed to let us keep our sidearms as long as we promise not to cause any trouble and keep them stowed away. They're going to confiscate the larger weapons though." Reaching down she grabbed Lara's bow as Jonah picked up the rest of the weapons, placing them up at the front of the boat before returning.

"They asked us to place the larger guns at the front. And to stay away from the machine guns while they send out a boat to come get us." Jonah said, seeing the questioning look Lara had given at their actions.

"I can understand that. What I can't believe is that they're going to actually let you keep your pistols." Sam said, shaking her head in incredulity.

"Apparently several of the ships with more experienced crews have started letting select crewmen carry weapons due to the rise of piracy in the area." Lara answered, having studied the area extensively before the expedition. "It is surprising they'll let us do so though."

"Roth and the old man's names carry a lot of weight. They were known for having some of the best crews out there and with Eric vouching for us that was all the captain needed." Came the explanation from Reyes.

Any further conversation was cut short as the sound of a boat motor cut through the air. The smaller vessel quickly pulled alongside them and a large man with tattoos and dreadlocks stepped onto their boat.

"Reyes, it's good to see you again. How the hell did you end up like this?" The man said, a strong Jamaican accent sounding through his words as he stretched out his hand.

Reaching out with her good arm Reyes clasped his outstretched hand firmly. "It's a long, crazy story, Eric. You have no idea how good it is to see a friendly face right now."

"Aye, I'm sure it will be quite the story, but it can wait until the morning. For now we have somewhat clean rooms, lukewarm showers, and we can find you some fresh clothes if you'll give us your sizes." Eric said, motioning for them to follow him onto his boat as his men came aboard the patrol boat. "The stories can wait until the morning after you have all had a good night's sleep. Although form the looks of it you should see our medical officer before you do anything else." His eyes running over Reyes' shoulder, Sam's arm, and just Lara in general.

"As much as I just want to go to sleep, that is probably a good idea. Someone needs to look at Sam's arm and that wound on Lara's side should be checked out as well." Seeing the look of surprise on Lara's face Reyes gave her a slight smirk as she continued. "You really think none of us noticed the way you've been holding that side? It'll be a small miracle if that thing isn't infected by now."

Lara opened her mouth to protest but seeing the worry that had appeared in Sam's eyes decided against it. "Well then, we better get over there if we're going to be taking a group trip to the medbay." Rising from her spot she boarded Eric's vessel before helping Sam down to the smaller boat. Jonah and Reyes soon followed, and once everyone was on board and the patrol boat tied behind them Eric started up the engines again and headed toward the ship that would carry them back to civilization.

* * *

As it turned out Reyes had needed the least amount of work done, apart from Jonah who had been remarkably unscathed. The gunshot wound was a simple through and through and had simply needed some antiseptic applied and the wound redressed and had left to the room her and Jonah had been given to get some sleep.

Sam had what was a relatively clean break on her left arm and had gotten her foot redressed along with a shot to prevent infection. After taking her first shower in days she had slipped into the clothes the crew had provided and was now back in the infirmary having decided to wait for Lara. The simple jeans and navy shirt she had been given weren't exactly her style but she wasn't going to complain when it was the first set of clean clothes she'd had in days, not to mention finally having a new pair of underwear.

For the moment though she was standing in the door to the medical office watching with amusement as Lara squirmed under the attention of the doctor. Lara had never been too fond of doctors to begin with and that was quite obvious watching the scene before her. They old man had taken one look at the shirts she'd been wearing under her vest and had immediately gone and gotten scissors to simply cut off the clothing that appeared stuck to her skin. The sight of her friend clad only in a her pants and sports bra squirming as the doctor went about his business as professionally as possible had been fairly amusing. The girl could climb a mountain in a blizzard without any sign of nerves but put her in an infirmary and she would fidget like a child. Her right arm had been cleaned and bandaged, and her entire midriff was now wrapped in bandages as well, and where as Sam and Reyes had gotten off with a single shot, Lara had gotten several due to the doctor's worry about infection.

"Your friend is quite amazing." The elderly doctor said, speaking in Japanese after Lara had left to take a shower of her own. "The fact that she was able to keep moving with those wounds is extraordinary."

Sam leaned back against the doctor's desk, idly playing with a pencil as she waited for Lara to return. "How bad was it actually?" She finally asked, almost afraid of the answer.

The doctor looked down at his chart for a moment before replying, "She had multiple scrapes and burns to various parts of her torso, arms, and legs, all of which should heal given time. There was a particularly nasty cut to her right arm that will scar as it appears to have been burned shortly after. And then there is her side…" Pausing for a moment as if to gather his thoughts, or maybe to just let everything sink in. "From what I can tell she suffered a puncture wound of some kind clean through her side, treated it, and reopened the wound multiple times before finally cauterizing it. That is in addition to the two cracked ribs I could feel. X-rays would be needed to be sure but I'm fairly certain that the first was several days ago while the second was quite recent, less than a day most likely. Just what happened to you girl out there?"

Sam was silent as she digested the information, thinking how just like Lara it was to hide how bad she'd been hurt. She'd rather be in pain than have others see her as a bother. Really though, the girl was amazing but she needed to learn to let others help her some, to not take everything on by herself.

"So do you know where they've decided to put us up for the time being?" Lara asked from the doorway, disturbing Sam from her thoughts and saving her from having to explain to the doctor what had happened. The younger girl was dressed similarly to the way she'd been on the Endurance, brown cargo pants and a simple gray V-neck shirt, her hair was actually down for once though.

"Well they only had the one spare cabin and Reyes and Jonah are there." Lara nodded at that, having insisted that they take the actual cabin instead of her and Sam had said she'd rather stay where Lara was. "Apparently there was an old office of some kind that they've been using as storage until now. They've cleared it out and put a mattress out on the floor for us to use."

"Where did they get an extra mattress? And for that matter, where did they get the clothes?" Lara asked, glad they had them but curious as to why they had them.

"Apparently their last stop was in Thailand and their shipment is mainly clothing, toys, and furniture, mattresses included. They reapropriated a few items for us to use, I already promised to pay the when we arrive at port in Tokyo." Sam answered as she moved over to where Lara was, grabbing her hand and pulling her out into the hallway. "Come on and I'll show you were we're staying, I was shown where we were staying after the doctor finished with me."

As they walked down the halls of the ship Lara took notice of the slight limp that Sam seemed to be walking with. "Are you sure your foot is alright?" She finally asked, not being able to ignore the discomfort her friend was showing.

Looking back at Lara, Sam shook her head in wonder, "This," she said, lifting her foot for good measure, "is perfectly fine, the wrapping just makes it awkward to walk on. Really you shouldn't worry about me, after all your in much worse off than I am." Stopping walking again she looked back at Lara, reaching back to rub the back of her own head. "And I just realized that wasn't the best way to have put that."

"Sam it's fine really." Lara said, touching the other girls arm to signal it was ok as the continued down the hall. "What I would really like to know is how a wolf got hold of your foot to begin with."

"Out of all that's happened that's what you want to know?" Sam asked only to get a shrug in response, sighing she continued on. "When the Endurance went down I ended up on a life raft with a couple of the crew, Paul and Ivan. Once we landed we stayed near the boat for a while but there was a call over the radio asking for help further inland and we decided the guys would go help while I stayed with the boat. If we had known how dangerous it was..."

Sam paused for a moment thinking back to that first night, and to make sure they were going the right way, before starting up a nearby staircase and continuing again. "I waited by the raft for several hours but never they never came back and there was nothing on the radio, so I decided to go look for them. Pretty stupid of me, right?" Sam asked, not really waiting for answer she carried on. "They had left me with a pistol so I took it with me, made it up to that temple you found me near when a wolf came running out at me." Stopping again Sam looked around reading the numbers on a nearby placard before turning and heading down the hallway.

"So it was a wolf, how did you get away then?" Lara asked, recalling her own experiences with wolves in that same area.

"In a way I didn't. When it came at me I panicked and started shooting at it but missed, pretty badly at that. It crashed into me, knocking me down, and apparantely decided it would be best to eat me from the feet up. Fortunately my boots were pretty tough and I ended up with a point blank shot at its head that even I couldn't miss and that was the end of it. My foot had good sized gash in it so I found somewhere to sit nearby and waited, hoping someone had heard the shot and was coming." Stopping outside a door she glanced at the numbers on it before reaching to open it. "The gunshots did help someone find me, unfortunately it was that evil bastard, I led him right to me. At that point I was so desperate to see another human that I didn't even question why I had never seen him before. He was taking care of my foot and had food and right then that was all I cared about. I made it so easy for him to take me."

"Sam.. It wasn't your fault it could've happened to anyone.." Lara began, tying to comfort her friend but was cut off by Sam.

"Maybe but it happened to me." Sam said, opening the door as she did so. The room wasn't spacious but there was a normal sized mattress there to take up most of the floor, complete with blankets and pillows, and right now that was all they wanted. As they stepped inside Lara could barely hear her friend's next remark, hardly louder than a sigh, "All I seemed to do was captured."

Stopping in the entrance Lara just looked at Sam wondering why she was being so hard on herself, none of them had known what to expect on that island. Realizing her friend had heard her she just shrugged, "What? It's true. Look its late let's just get ready for bed and go to sleep.

Preparing for bed was a simple process as all it entailed was taking of their pants and getting into bed, Lara set her pistol on the floor within easy reach. She shouldn't need it but just felt safer with it nearby. For a while they simply laid there in silence before Sam finally turned over on her right side to face Lara. "Lara, sweetie, if you're going to say something then just say it. Don't just lay there and overthink things."

"It wasn't your fault Matthias took you. There wasn't anyway to know what he was planning." Lara said, sitting up some to better see Sam.

"You never trusted him. From the beginning you were cautious about him." Sam countered.

"And what did I do? I fell asleep and let him walk out of there with you. I didn't even hear you struggling and wake up to help."

Directing her gaze downward Sam replied, "That's because there was no struggle to hear. He had taken my gun and forced me to go with him."

Lara's eyes widened slightly in shock, "Why didn't you make some noise to wake me up? I could've helped you.. I could've.."

"If I had done anything to alert you, you'd be dead Lara. The evil bastard was smart I'll give him that, it wasn't me he aimed the gun at." Sam said, watching as realization dawned on Lara's face. "It was you. If I had done anything against what he said he'd have killed you." Sam explained, her expression difficult to read in the dark, it appeared as if there were tears in her eyes though. "I couldn't let him hurt you."

"Oh, Sam." Lara said, reaching out and pulling her best friend close to her. "I was supposed to be the one saving you and yet you kept having to protect me from danger I never even knew was there." For a long while they just lay there like that, tears slowly rolling down Sam's face as Lara held onto her.

"I was captured several times as well." Lara said finally breaking the silence, Sam's eyes raising to meet hers. "You saw at the fire ritual, but before that they used the pilot of the rescue plane to lure me into a trap. The only reason I survived was because the Stormguard showed up and killed everyone. They must have though I was already dead and strung me up like the rest."

"Why are you.." Sam started to say but was cut off a Lara continued.

"That wasn't even the first time I was caught. Right after I landed on the island some psycho captured me and strung me up to sacrifice and I had to find a way to escape. And then after I found you the first time I was caught by the Solari. Several of the crew, Paul and Ivan among them, ended up sacrificing themselves so that I could escape." Lara said, her voice heavy as she spoke. So many good people had ended up giving their lives for hers. "That was first night I killed some one as well." Lara finally finished, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Sam asked once Lara finally stopped. While she had wanted to know what her friend had been through she had to question the timing.

"What I'm trying to say is that I was pretty useless too. I was captured several times, I got good people killed because I wasn't strong enough, and the only reason I survived a lot of what happened was sheer luck." Lara said, shame at how she had failed her crewmates evident on her face.

"Lara, sweetie, you had no idea what was going on. It wasn't your fault." Sam said, reaching out to tuck Lara's hair behind her ear. "And I guess that was you point, that it wasn't all my fault. Maybe so, but I still could've been more useful, gotten better at dealing with things like you did."

Lara shook her head at that, "I got better at killing, I don't want that for you."

"No, you got better at surviving. On that place having to kill was just part of it. None of us was able to get off that island without having to." At that Lara sat nearly straight up, eyes wide as she looked at Sam.

"You had to kill someone?" Lara asked, shock evident. She had thought that at least her friend had made it out of there without having to go through that.

"Hmm, you thought I made it out of there without having to fight?" Sam said, surprised at Lara's shock. For Sam the surprising thing wasn't that she had eventually had to kill but how easily she had been able to accept it. "The first one was when the Solari cornered me as I was escaping from the castle. After that I'm not sure how many, several got in the way as I was escaping and I have no idea how many I might have shot during the fight after I met up with Reyes, Jonah, and Alex." Rolling off of Lara and onto her back she stared at the ceiling for a moment. "I wasn't very good at fighting them to be honest. I would just keep shooting and hope I hit someone bad enough that they left me alone."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Lara asked, concerned as to why Sam hadn't mentioned this and as why she seemed so nonchalant about it.

"I guess it just didn't seem important. Everyone there was having to fight to survive after all. Me having to fight as well didn't seem anymore important that Jonah or Alex or you having to." Sam said, shrugging slightly as she did so. Having spent so much time as the Solari's 'guest' she found it a bit difficult to have any sympathy for them. "I think being stuck on Yamatai forced us to face the darkest parts of ourselves and we either had to accept it or go crazy…" Sam said, visibly wincing at how corny she had sounded. "Oh God, listen to me I sound like some kind of cute, Asian Doctor Phil."

Lara actually laughed at that, for the first time in days now that she thought about it. "Don't worry Sam I don't think you're in any danger of turning into Doctor Phil. Cute Asian version or otherwise." They both shared a laugh at that, relieved to be back on lighter topics. For a time they lay there just listening to the sounds of the ship, the pulse of the engine through the deck, the sound of waves witting outside. "I'm going to go back you know.. Back to Yamatai. It should be safe now with the storms gone and the Stormgaurd and Solari dead." Lara said finally, breaking the silence.

Sighing Sam nodded her head, she had been suspecting that Lara would want to return. Archeology was her passion and Yamatai was veritable treasure trove. "I know. We set out to find and study Yamatai. And last time I checked we've only finished half of that."

Looking over at Sam, Lara raised an eyebrow at her, "We?"

Nodding once more Sam replied, "We. I don't know about Reyes or Jonah but I will go back with you. It was my family that funded the expedition after all and I intend to see it through, wherever you go, I go remember?" Sam paused, thinking back to the promise they'd made after graduating from Cambridge. "Besides that place is just begging to be made into a documentary and there is no one better suited to do so than me." She finished, her voice sounding cheerful as she smiled back over at Lara.

"A documentary, huh? Well it's going take time to gather a ship and crew and everything else needed but I'm glad to know that you'll be there with me. Very glad." Lara said, a small smile on her face. The fact that Sam trusted her meant more to her than she felt comfortable saying. Pulling Sam closer to her, so that the older girls head was resting on her shoulder she finally settled back to go to sleep. "For now though let's just try and get some sleep now that we have an actual bed. We're going to be very busy from now on if we're going to be heading back to Yamatai."

**Author's Note: **So this is a new story I'm working on. I had intended to write several chapters before publishing but decided to go ahead and see what kind of response I'd get. I have plans to continue this through their return to Yamatai and add some more depth to some things from the game. Please leave a review and let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Here's the new chapter. I'm going to try and do weekly updates as often as possible but I have a feeling it'll be closer to bi-weekly most of the time. Oh, and the title is taken from the song Safe and Sound by The Civil Wars.

Safe and Sound

"What the hell, Lara? You can't possibly be serious." Reyes said through gritted teeth, leaning against the table on her good arm. Across the table Lara simply stared back at her defiantly. This girl had to be crazy, asking them to stay behind after breakfast that morning so she could tell them some bullshit about wanting to return to Yamatai, not only that she wanted to know if her and Jonah wanted to go as well. "We all nearly died on that island. Hell most of us did die. Do you want to end up like Roth, like Alex or Grimm?" Reyes continued, angry at Lara for being so stupid, angry at Sam for supporting her, hell angry at Jonah for not saying anything.

Lara's eyes flashed as she started to rise from her seat, only to be stopped by Sam's hand on her shoulder. "That's going too far. Look we're not asking you to come with us but we are going to go back. There's just too much left unfinished there to leave it alone." Sam said, hoping that she could reason with Reyes before she and Lara got into another fight.

"And just what did you leave unfinished, dy-"

"That's enough." Jonah said, speaking up to cut Reyes off before she made things even worse. Looking over the two he took a second to take in their appearances. Reyes looked exhausted, angry, and now that he was paying closer attention, scared. He knew she hadn't slept much the night before and the anger was understandable but the fear surprised him, it appeared Yamatai haunted her more than it did the others. Lara on the other hand looked better rested but far from okay, and she was angry, very angry. Thankfully Sam was a calming influence on the young girl and that had kept her from escalating things. "Let's just listen to what Lara has to say."

"But she's going to get…" Reyes began again.

"Look, I'm not saying we have to agree with her or even believe it's a good idea." Jonah said, looking across at Lara apologetically as he did so. "Just hear her out for now."

There was a pause before Reyes slumped back down into her seat. "Fine, but she better have a damn fine reason for this."

Glaring across at Reyes for a second Lara began again, "As I was saying, I'm going to return to Yamatai." Reyes simply rolled her eyes at this, causing Lara to sigh before continuing. "Look I get that this sounds crazy but I need to do this. When we first set out, it was to find and study Yamatai. We've managed half of that but… I can't just leave it at that. Doing so would be a disservice to all those that died there." Lara finished, exhaustion showing as she set back, waiting to see what the response would be.

To her credit Reyes didn't simply reject her out of hand but actually appeared to be thinking it over. "How do you intend to fund this expedition? The first one cost nearly $30 million and it was only that because there were plans to gain additional funding after Yamatai was discovered." Reyes said finally, wanting to see how much Lara had actually thought ahead and also to give herself more time to think everything over. "You're going to need a ship, a new crew, security, supplies, excavation equipment, the works. If you're actually intend to do this it's going to cost a hell of a lot of money."

Lara was at a lose for a moment, out of all the issues she had expected Reyes to bring up funding wasn't one of them, and she was unsure how to answer. "My family can fund a large part of the expedition." Sam said seeing her friend at a loss for how to answer, getting Lara, Reyes, and Jonah to turn to her in surprise as she did.

"How?" Jonah asked curiosity evident on his face. "I heard that your family had already put most of their money into this."

Sam shifted uncomfortably at the sudden attention and line of questioning, "Umm… That's not exactly true. You see what was used for the first expedition was just what was in my trust fund." Sam said almost rushing her words as she finished, both Jonah and Reyes's eyes going wide at the implication as did Lara's although for an entirely different reason.

"But… you said your father was funding us." Lara said, confusion evident. That was what Sam had told her after all, Roth as well.

"Well.. Daddy wouldn't actually fund us without hard evidence so I had to improvise." Sam said, avoiding eye contact with, well with everyone really.

"Improvise? You call emptying your bank accounts improvising?" Lara said incredulously, finding it hard to believe her friend had done so, especially without telling her that she had. "Why did you do that? We could have found another way to fund the expedition."

"Lara, sweetie, can we please talk about this later?" Sam said, practically begging her friend. For a moment Lara simply looked at her before finally nodding her consent. Relieved, she continued on, "Anyways, the point is that we have a way to fund another expedition."

Jonah and Reyes looked at each other for a moment before Jonah spoke up. "To be honest I don't know if this is a good idea, but if you think it's something you need to do then I'll support you." Walking over to where Lara was seated her set his large hand on her shoulder before continuing, "I don't know if I can go back with you though. Give me some time to think about it, ok?"

"Of course, Jonah. I never meant that I wanted you to make a decision like this right away." Lara said, relief that her friend was supporting her clear on her face.

"Thank you. I promise I won't take too long to decide." Jonah said, sparing a glance back at Reyes before continuing out of the mess hall.

There was an awkward silence between them as the girls waited for Reyes to speak. Leaning her chair back she looked at the ceiling for a moment before finally saying her piece. "This still sounds like a bad idea to me, but if your set on doing this, then so be it. Hell if anyone can find something worthwhile in that place it'd be you." Rising from her seat she too made to exit before stopping at the entryway. Looking back at Lara and Sam she paused for a moment before speaking again, "Before you do this though you should make sure if it's really to honor the crew's memories or if it's to satisfy your own damn desire for adventure." Ignoring the shock on Lara's face she simply turned and continued on her way out of the room.

* * *

"That bitch!" Lara exclaimed, opening the door to her and Sam's room with more force than was necessary. Sam hung back for a moment watching her friend, unsure of what to do. It was strange to see Lara get so mad about something, and she couldn't ever remember her actually losing her cool like this.

"How can she say that I'm doing this just to satisfy 'my own damn desire for adventure'?" Her eyes roaming over the room wishing she had something to punch before finally locking in on Sam still standing in the doorway. Her friend had yet to enter the room and was just watching her nervously and that alone was enough to get her to calm down some. With a sigh she flung herself down on their bad, wincing as she did. "That's not what I'm doing… is it?"

"Is that really such bad thing?" Sam said, sitting down beside her friend, the only response to her question was a glare from Lara. She had a pretty good idea what the issue was, really the girl was just too noble for her own good sometimes, as it seemed she thought that wanting to do this for reasons beside honoring their friends memories was wrong. "Sweetie, just her me out for a minute, ok? It's alright if you want to go back for more than just learning what happened and honoring the crew."

"I never said that I had any other reason for going back, Reyes did." Lara defended.

"You forget that I know you pretty well. You enjoy going on expeditions, making discoveries, proving to everyone that your theories were right, and you love the adventure that comes with all of that. That is not a bad thing, it's just part of who you are. It's no different than my desire to make documentaries, or Jonah's love of cooking, or Reyes enjoying being a bitch." Sam said, reaching out to reassure Lara that it really wasn't wrong that she had more than one reason for wanting to go back.

For a while Lara just laid there not saying anything, although the comment about Reyes got a slight smile. Eventually sitting up she leaned over on Sam, resting her head on her good shoulder. "It's just.. I feel like I would be betraying them if I was doing this for my own reasons."

"You're not. Roth would want you to do this and to enjoy yourself as much as you can. So would Alex and Grimm." Sam said, relieved that her friend was finally calmed down. "You really are too noble for your own good."

That got a slight smile out of Lara, Sam was right she was being stupid about this. There was nothing wrong about wanting to do this for her sake as well. "Thanks Sam, I needed that." She could honor her friend's memories while doing what she loved after all. It wouldn't be wrong for her to enjoy herself, if anything not doing so would have been the greater disrespect to those who died for her. "When did you get so smart?" Lara teased, her friend was always better at dealing with personal issues than she was.

Giving Lara a slight shove Sam laughed as she answered, "Hey one of us has to actually have people skills." Seriously with a Baccalaureate in Communications and a Masters in Linguistics she had better be good at dealing with people. "Honestly you are great when it comes to anything involving archeology and have great instincts but are terrible when it comes to reading people."

"I'm not that bad." Lara said, really she couldn't be that bad, could she?

"Lara, sweetie, how long did it take you to recognize Alex liked you?" Sam said, giving Lara a skeptical look as she did. While his death was still fresh in both of their minds avoiding it wouldn't help anyone, it would be better to simply talk about it than to brood on it later.

"Ok you have a point but that was just one person." Lara said, really it wasn't her fault she hadn't known. It wasn't like it was that obvious.

As if reading her train of thought Sam continued, "Sweetie, everyone on that ship knew that Alex liked you, he wasn't that good at hiding it. You are just terrible at telling when people are attracted to you." It was something Sam had known for a while, even in college it was easy to see. Whereas Sam had a variety of relationships Lara had never been in a serious relationship, actually she had never been in any kind of relationship, serious or not, at least not since Sam had known her.

"Well it's a good thing I have you then." Lara said, standing up and moving around the room a bit. "So since you're so good at reading people, what was Reyes's problem?"

"She's scared." Sam answered; it had been pretty obvious to her why Reyes was being bitchier than usual. "She saw most of her friends die and couldn't do anything to stop it. Add that to losing Roth and... well it's understandable why she would be scared to go back."

Her answer gave Lara pause for moment as she thought over what she'd said. "I can understand that. I don't like how she was acting but I can understand it."

"Well that's good, try to remember that next time you two talk." Being caught between the two always left her feeling like she was trying to defuse a bomb, not exactly an enjoyable experience. "So as long as you're taking my advice… what do you say to heading up onto the deck and getting some fresh air?" As much as she loved having a room and bed she would go crazy if she had to stay here the whole trip back.

* * *

Coming out onto the deck had been a good idea. Sam had detoured on the way up to go talk to the radio operator; apparently she wanted to make sure her father knew they were coming and to arrange transportation for them. Her absence had left Lara alone with her thoughts for a time and allowed her to truly think through what she was doing. Yamatai was only going to be the beginning of her adventures, of the she was certain. Hearing voices from behind her she turned to see Sam talking to one of the crewman as she came out on the deck. For a moment she just watched her, her mind drifting back to their graduation day, the day Sam had promised she would go wherever Lara went.

_Flashback_

_Lara stood off to the side from everyone, watching as Sam talked with her parents. She had met them a few times but wouldn't have felt comfortable intruding on them at this moment. To her relief she saw Sam heading over to her, sans parents. _

"_So, I've got my first assignment." Sam said as she looped her arm through Lara's and pulled her away from the crowd._

"_Already?" Lara queried somewhat dejectedly, she had been hoping to spend more time with her friend before they were separated due to work. Sam's father must have arranged this for her to have an assignment so soon._

"_Yep, I'm to document the rise of this new, young archeologist who's set to take the world by storm." Sam said a smile playing on her lips. _

_Lara simply gave a strained smile in response. "That's great for you Sam. I'm certain it will be a great piece. Be sure to let me know when you finish it so I can watch it." _

_Hearing the sadness in her friend's voice Sam stopped their progress and turned to face Lara. Studying her friends feature's for a moment she realized that Lara really hadn't known who she was referring to. "Lara, sweetie, I'm talking about you."_

_That managed to get Lara's attention, "What? But, Sam, I'm not anything special." Lara said, really she was a just graduated archeology student, far from worthy of a documentary. Still she couldn't help the relief that flooded through her though as the implications of what Sam was saying reached her. _

_Seeing the relief on her friends face Sam smiled, "Yep, that means that I'm going with you on your next expedition, wherever it may be." _

"_How are you sure there will be anything worth filming?" Lara asked, wanting her friend to have a chance to succeed. _

"_Well as Roth likes to say 'You're a Croft' and that's a pretty good place to start." Sam said, she had met Roth the summer before and taken a liking to the old man and the way he acted as a father figure for Lara. "But more than that I trust you, and as long as you're willing to put up with me and my camera I'll go wherever you go. Promise." Sam said, looping her arm back through Lara's as they continued walking. She meant what she had said too, as long as Lara was willing to have her she would go wherever the younger girl went.  
_

_Lara smiled as she thought about what she'd said, it made her far happier than it probably should that her friend would continue to be with her. She still wasn't sure where her first expedition would take her but now she had an idea. After hearing Sam's stories of her ancestor so many times she had done quite a bit of her own research, and if she remembered right, Roth had said there was interest building up in finding the lost island as well. Maybe there first expedition together should be to find Sam's ancestral home, the lost kingdom of Yamatai._

_Flashback End_

Realizing part of her hair had fallen in her eyes during her recollections she made to tuck it back behind her ear, a soft smile on her face as she looked over to where Sam was at. Her smile disappeared quickly as she realized just what was in Sam's hands.

"Sam, no. I must look horrible right now." Lara said as Sam made her way to her, the camcorder still in her hands.

"Nonsense, you always look lovely." Sam said, her excitement at having her camcorder back evident. One of the crew had found it on the patrol boat after they had boarded and had finally gotten it back to her. "Although on second thought you could probably do with another shower." Lowering her camera, she powered it off before clipping it onto the belt she had on.

In all honesty Lara didn't mind as much as she once did. After all the videos Sam had shot had been a great comfort to her when she'd been stranded on her own. She wasn't going to let her friend know that though, she'd never turn off her camera if she knew. "Did you manage to get through to your father?"

"Yeah." Sam said, leaning against the rail near Lara. "He's arranging transport for us and is going to take care of making sure that no one knows what we found until we want them too."

"Why would he do that?" Lara asked, not understanding why they needed to hide their discovery.

"Apparently the discovery of a new island and the lost culture that goes with it needs to be handled delicately. He wants to make sure that no one can infringe on your claim to the site and hopefully keep the countries in the area from making this difficult. There's a lot of politics involved apparently. He said we'd go over it more once we've landed and had time to rest."

That made sense she supposed. She hadn't really considered the international aspect to all that had happened. Still she couldn't do anything about it right now so why worry about it? "Speaking of your father..." Lara began, resting her back against the railway. "What's this about him not having funded us?"

"Ugh.. I was hoping you'd forgotten about that, should've known better." Sam grumbled, seriously it was her money who cares how she spent it? Well Lara apparently, who was still waiting for her answer. "Look, Daddy was going to fund us as soon as we had proof so it wasn't really that big of an issue."

"Sam you spent everything you had on this expedition. An expedition that you had no way of knowing would actually pan out."

"I trusted you. Besides even if nothing came of it I would've made it work. You've done pretty well without using any of your fortune after all." Sam replied, not seeing what the issue was.

Lara just shook her head; she was accustomed to living modestly, while Sam most definitely wasn't. Still she there was no point trying to argue with her, the girl could be unbelievably stubborn when she wanted. Sighing she spoke up again, "Just promise me you won't do that again."

"Fine." Sam answered, turning so that she too had her back to the rail. Looking over the deck she noticed Jonah watching them from further behind them. Waving him over she waited on the large man to make his way to them before speaking. "Hey Jonah, what are you doing out here?"

"Same as you I imagine, taking in the fresh air… and thinking." Jonah said, moving to lean against the rail on Lara's other side. He stared at the waves for a moment before speaking again, "I'm glad I caught you out here, I've been considering what you said this morning."

Both of the girls turned to face him better curious as to what he wanted to say. While he had said that he would think about their proposal neither had expected him to have an answer so soon.

"When you go back to Yamatai I want to go with you." Jonah said, eyes still locked on the waves.

"Are you sure about this? I know that you didn't like the idea of going there originally." Lara said, remembering his reluctance about sailing into the Dragon's Triangle to begin with.

"The one that caused that is gone thanks to you." Jonah said, clenching the rail tighter before continuing, "And I feel need to go back before I'll be able to move forward."

"How do you mean?" Sam asked, trying to understand her friend's reasoning.

"I was scared. If it hadn't been for the rest of you I would have given up and let the storms take me." Jonah said, gaze hardening slightly as he thought back to his time on the island. "The only reason I was able to keep moving forward, to fight back, was because the others were there with me. I don't want that to be how I remember that place. I want to go back and show that I am not afraid." Jonah said, his voice growing stronger with each word. This was his conviction after all, something that he felt he had to do.

Lara and Sam remained quiet for a moment. It was odd to hear their larger friend speak so much at once. "If that is what you need to do then I'll be glad to have you with us." Lara said finally, she could understand that need to prove himself.

"Thank you little bird. I'm glad to hear it." Jonah said, relief showing across his face. Turning he stood up a little straighter than before as he started to move off. "I should get going, I told the cook that I'd help in the kitchen, a thank you of sorts to the crew."

Sam moved in front of the larger man as he made to head off, giving him a quick, one armed hug as she looked up at him. "Just know that we're here for you if you need to talk about anything. I know it can't be easy not having anyone to talk about what happened with."

"Thank you Sam, I'll keep that in mind." He said before heading back below deck.

Moving back to where Lara was she leaned against the rail next to her friend, her good arm resting on Lara's back as her fingers traced patterns across it. Lara had moved so that she was leaning on her arms as she stood there watching the waves. "I'm surprised that Jonah felt like that, he seemed the most.. solid, the only one that never panicked." Lara said, wondering how she hadn't seen how he'd been affected.

"I think we all felt like that in one way or another. That we should have been able to do more than we did." Sam said, she knew for sure that she should have.

"I guess you're right." Lara said, all the things she could have done different running through her mind.

"And that's why I want to you to teach me how to fight."

Lara turned to her friend in shock. "What? Sam I can't teach you.. I wouldn't even know where to start.. and besides you have a broken arm."

"I didn't mean we had to start right now, but when we've both recovered I want you to teach me. I don't want to be the damsel in distress you keep having to save." Sam said, she wanted to be able to protect herself, regardless of how good she might look in a ceremonial gown.

"I..I don't know if I can." Lara said, Roth had taught her the basics of what she knew and he was a harsh taskmaster, she didn't know if she could do that with Sam, and what she had learned on Yamatai couldn't be taught.

"Why not? I saw you fighting, can't you teach me to do the same?" Sam asked, surprised at how reluctant the girl seemed.

"Roth was the one to taught me the basics and he did so through practice. When I made a mistake it hurt, so I learned not to make mistakes. The training was really rough and I don't know if I could do that with you." Lara said finally. Roth had been a great teacher but a tough one. When it came to learning how to defend herself he believed the only way to learn was through experience and had made sure she had plenty.

"I'm a big girl Lara, I can take it." Sam said, somewhat angry that Lara thought she wasn't strong enough to do so. "Besides we both know that's not the real reason, or at least not all of it."

Lara nodded her head slightly, that was only part of the reason she was so reluctant to teach her and Sam deserved to know the rest. "What I learned on Yamatai wasn't how to fight." Lara began, mind replaying the times her enemies had gotten in close. "It was how to kill. To kill quickly and effectively with whatever I had at hand. I can't teach you that, it's something you have to learn through experience, and I don't want you to have to experience that. You shouldn't have to know that." Lara finished, she planned to keep Sam as far away from any danger as she possibly could.

Sam stayed silent for a few minutes thinking over what Lara had said. Her friend was even more against this than she had thought she'd be. "Look, sweetie, I understand that. I get that you want to keep me out of harm's way, I really do." And she did, after all she wanted the same for Lara but knew that it would be futile to attempt to make her lead a safer life. "But as much as you want to keep me safe we both know that you can't always be there to protect me. Wouldn't it be better if I could protect myself?"

"Who says I can't always be there to protect you?"

That got a bit of a laugh out of Sam, despite the seriousness of the topic Lara's expression reminded her of a kid told that they couldn't have something they wanted. "Lara, come on, we both know that it's impossible for you to always be with me."

"Says you." Lara said under her breath. Sam was right though, it would be better for her to know how to protect herself and not need to, than vice versa. "Fine I'll teach you.. but only after you have a doctor clear you."

"Deal." It wasn't like they could exactly start here even if they had been in any condition too. Still it was good to know that Lara would teach her. She was going to make sure that she was never such burden on her friend again, that was her promise to both Lara and herself.

* * *

Several days had passed since their conversation on the deck and the ship was finally pulling into the Tokyo harbor. Things between what was left of the Endurance's crew had been pretty good, although Lara and Reyes's interactions could be described as cold at best. Therefore it had been to Lara's surprise that Reyes had pulled her aside as her and Sam had made their way above deck to watch the ship pull in.

"I'll wait for you up top, ok Lara?" Sam said after a short, silent exchange with Reyes that Lara didn't really understand.

"Ok… sure." Was Lara's only response, Sam really thought it was safe to leave the two of them together?

"Look I still think this whole idea is a damn fool adventure." Reyes began, not exactly setting Lara at ease. "But Roth would want me to see it through, to make sure that you and Sam don't get yourselves killed, so I'm in."

"We can take care of ourselves." Lara said icily, she was glad Reyes was willing to go with them but didn't appreciate the slight.

"Maybe so, but you know nothing about running a crew, or leading an expedition. You're going to need help with that." Reyes said, continuing when she saw Lara nod, conceding her point. "I can help with that. I still have files on everyone that worked on the Endurance and several others as well. Once you have a ship secured just give me the word and I'll help you put together the best damn crew you've ever seen."

"I.. thank you, Reyes I'd appreciate that." Lara said sincerely, putting together her own crew was part of what worried her most about this, Roth had always handled it and she had no idea where to start.

"Good just let me know when I need to start." Reyes said, turning to head up the stairs. "Oh and Lara? Make sure you take care of Sam, the girl's probably had a harder time of than she's letting on."

Reyes words echoed in her mind as she made her way up to the deck where Sam was. Noticing the older girl over by the rails again she made her way over. Wrapping an arm around her as gently as possible she pulled her close to her. Looking out over the harbor she noticed a black limousine parked near where they were to dock. "That the car your dad sent?" She asked.

"Probably." Came the answer from Sam. "I doubt anyone else would have a limo picking them up."

A slight laugh came from Lara as she responded. "You're probably right." Honestly she didn't care what kind of car it was. After all it was their ride back home, and that was all she really wanted at the moment.

**Author's Note: **Another set-up chapter, should be one more like this before they return to Yamatai. I wanted to take some time to get the crews interactions and address some personal issues first though. In particular I wanted to make it clear that Sam won't just be a pretty face always needing saving, that she want's to get stronger and in normal society is actually pretty smart, thus the degrees. Also since I'm not sure there will be a point to write it in lets say that Lara has a double major in social anthropology and world history, as well as a Masters in Archeology. While it might seem like the girl have a lot of education relative to their age it is actually possible for them to have done this given that their both pretty smart and have the money needed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **So this took an annoyingly long time to write, first there was a lot real life stuff getting in the way then when I actually set down to write I found out that I was trying to push the story ahead to quickly and needed to slow it down and add an extra chapter in. So here you go, the latest chapter of Safe and Sound.

Safe and Sound

'_Damn it,' she thought crouching behind a few barrels, 'How many of these bastards are there?' From her vantage point she could easily see yet another of the Solari that was trying to prevent her escape from the burning village. With no way to easily avoid him, she stepped out from behind the barrels to line up a clearer shot. A simple squeeze of her finger was all it would take to send this one to hell with the others. _

_Unfortunately the man chose that moment to reach for something on the ground and her shot sailed over him. "What the-" The man yelled, spinning around to face her, his own weapon rising. "You! Drop your weapon or I'l-" _

_Her second shot cut off whatever his threat was about to be as the bullet lodged itself in his gut. "You.. you bitch." He said from his knees, clutching at his belly as the blood pooled over his hands._

_Walking over to him she picked his rifle up off the ground, as her pistol had only a few shots remaining. She made to leave before stopping and turning back for a moment, she raised her pistol level with the wounded man's head. No point in letting him tell anyone which way she'd gone after all, and it wasn't like they didn't deserve this after what they'd done. _

_BANG_

Sam woke with a start, the crash from the storm outside coinciding with one from the gunshot in her own dreams having been enough to wake her. For a moment she just lay there thinking back to the memory she'd been dreaming about. She hated remembering those things, not because of what had happened to her but rather because of what she'd done. The fact that she had let her own anger at what those monsters had done to her, what they'd done to the crew, and what they promised to do Lara, control her for a time scared her. She didn't want to be that kind of a person, one that went out of their way to kill those she hated.

Looking over at the girl sleeping beside her she couldn't help but compare their actions, while they had both killed others, the reason's had been different. From what Lara had told her over the last two weeks she had never let her anger at the Solari guide her actions. With Lara it had been simpler, purer in a way; she had killed because they were trying to kill her and her friends. Sam only wished her own reasons had been as noble, she had just wanted to send those bastards to hell. It was like the difference between killing someone trying to hurt your family and killing someone for hurting your family. Whereas one could be called self-defense the other was closer to murder, even if the reason's behind them had been pretty much the same.

Laying here wasn't going to help though and she was pretty thirsty as it was. Disentangling herself from Lara's grip she made her way to the kitchen area of her flat. Lara and her had been staying here for close to two weeks, ever since being discharged from the hospital after they were sure they were clear of any infections or diseases. It was a fairly modest, one bedroom apartment, well modest by her standards anyway, one that she had purchased before the expedition as she wanted to be comfortable while they were doing the final preparations and research for the trip.

Getting a glass of water, she walked back toward the bedroom area, leaning up against the wall and watching Lara for a moment as she sipped her water. Seriously though, it had been a chore to get Lara to agree to stay here. It wasn't until Sam had pointed out that it was thanks to Lara she was able to buy this place to begin with. Being with Lara the last four years had done a lot to mellow Sam out from the rebellious, party girl she had been when they first met. And in turn her father had allowed her access to her trust fund again once he had been certain she had matured, a trust fund that was then used to purchase this place.

Still even after Sam's explanation Lara had insisted on sleeping on the coach. That had lasted only until the first nightmare had hit Lara, and after that Sam had insisted that Lara sleep with her. Lara had been dubious at first but seeing as she hadn't had a nightmare sense Sam felt vindicated that she's been right about the subject of her friend's nightmares. Well it wasn't that hard to figure out, what with her calling out her name and everything. It was too bad the same remedy didn't seem to keep out her own bad dreams.

Glancing over at the clock, which seemed to delight in telling her it was way too early to be up, she decided it was best to try to get some more sleep. After all, they had what was hopefully the final meeting with her father later and she needed to be awake for that. Settling back into the bed carefully, she scooted back so that her back pressed into Lara. Feeling her friends arm reflexively wrap itself around her she smiled as she settled into go back to sleep, a girl could definitely get used to this.

* * *

"So are there any questions?" Mr. Nishimura said, leaning back some as he observed his daughter's younger friend. He appeared to be a stereotypical representative of a middle aged Japanese businessman with his perfectly styled haired, tailored suit, and perfect manners. However, whereas many his age would have been on the portly side he was still remarkably fit given his age. His English was flawless as well, with only a slight accent giving away that he wasn't a native speaker, an accent that he affected on purpose to disarm foreign business rivals if Sam was to be believed.

"I can't believe you were able to get them to agree to all this." Lara said reviewing the documents he had set before her. "And so quickly as well. I thought this would take longer."

"Well given that father here plays golf with the Prime Minister on the weekends, it's not all that surprising." Sam said, giving her father a slight smile. Even if she said that she was still impressed he had been able to get this done so quickly.

Shaking his head he answered his daughter, "That's not true Samantha. I do not play golf with the Prime Minister, not since he was elected anyways." He finished with a slight smirk, getting a laugh from his daughter in response.

Lara looked up from her notes to watch the two, it was rare for her to her friend's father and it was fascinating for her to see them together. Despite Nishimura-san's appearance as someone who would be very serious he was actually quite lighthearted, at least around them. Honestly, with the exception of his manners, his personality was more of what she would expect from an American businessman than a member of Japan's elite. In her opinion that just went to show how inaccurate stereotypes could be.

"So to summarize all of this," Lara began, holding up the stack of papers he had given her. "Japan has agreed to finance my expedition to Yamatai and release the Black Wave to me, in exchange for me giving up any property claims I might have on Yamatai and agreeing to sign a non-disclosure agreement about why the Japanese military was really on the island."

Seeing the disbelief in Lara's eyes Sam set her hand on Lara's shoulder rubbing it gently. "You've got to realize how bad it would look if it became known that Japan was trying to find a way to control the weather. Even though it happened a long time ago, and most people won't believe it's possible, Japan would still be ridiculed because of actually sending and losing a lot of resources and men for it. Can you imagine what you would think if you just heard that story on the news? It would be a huge embarrassment for the country." Sam explained, enjoying the chance to show off her knowledge of her area of expertise to Lara for a change.

"Samantha's right, and then there is still the matter of the island itself.." Mr. Nishimura said, picking up where his daughter had stopped. "Due to it not having happened in recent history the property rights are unclear regarding the discovery of new lands. By surrendering the claim to any rights you might have had as heir to the expedition leader, you allow Japan to make a claim on them due to my family being Japanese citizens and pressing our own claim as the financial backer of the expedition."

Lara nodded in understanding; she hadn't really considered the wider implications her discovery would have on the world as a whole. And the fact that Roth had named her the primary benefactor in his will had been a shock to her, still she intended to make sure most of that went to Reyes and her daughter. The island claim though needed to be taken care of quickly so she could only hope she was doing the right thing.

"Still what I'm receiving in return seems to be worth far more than what they're getting." Lara said, the Black Wave alone was worth several million pounds, being one of the fastest non-military ships out there, and that wasn't even taking in the cost of funding her expedition.

In response to this Mr. Nishimura actually laughed. "You are seriously undervaluing the value of property rights to an island that covers roughly 400 square miles. Land is one of the most valuable resources in the world and the most conservative estimates would put the value at several hundred million, and that's without factoring in the ruins and artifacts you'll be uncovering." No, if anything the girl was being severely under-compensated for her works. Well, luckily half of the island was now under his ownership so he would have to see about making sure she got what she deserved.

"Umm.. Lara, sweetie, I think you missed something on here." Sam said, pointing her finger at one of the documents she had been reading. "According to this you're to receive a finder's fee as well. Hmm… About ten million pounds if I'm doing the conversion right." Sam finished, looking up to see a shocked Lara staring back at her.

"Ten million pounds? Whatever for?" Lara asked incredulously, this couldn't possibly be right.

"How about for discovering a previously lost culture and an entire island kingdom? Or perhaps the remnants of a World War II Era base? Or most importantly of all, at least to me, saving my daughter's life?" Mr. Nishimura said, as amusing at it was to see the girl blush in embarrassment as he listed her accomplishments he was tired of her devaluing what she had done. "Then there's the matter of stopping the resurrection of an ancient queen and ending the storms that have brought death to thousands over the centuries."

Lara sat in silence at that, when it was put that way it was hard to argue with him. Still all she had been doing was trying to survive and save her friends, the rest was coincidental. There wouldn't be in point in trying to argue that though. "I'm still having a hard time understanding how you believed our story so easily."

That got a slight chuckle out of the man, "You would be surprised what I'm willing to believe, even more so when it's my own family we're discussing."

There was something there that Lara wanted to question but she decided not to push it for the time being, sighing she reached over for one of the pens on the desk. "Right, so where all do I sign?"

"Look on the brightside, sweetie, at least with the money they're giving you, you can have the retrofits done on the ship without having to use what your family left you." Sam said, trying to cheer her friend up some, although why anyone needed cheering up after receiving a large sum of money was beyond her.

That was true at least, while the Black Wave was a good ship, it had last been being used to harass illegal whaling operations. The only reason the Japanese government had it was because the crew had slipped up and attacked a legitimate fishing fleet by mistake and gotten the ship impounded. It would take a few months to get the renovations she wanted done but once they were she would have the best salvage/exploration ship to ever set sail at her disposal, although she would definitely be changing the name once it was ready.

* * *

The rest of their day had been sent signing various documents and then getting in touch with an old friend of Grimm and Roth's that would oversee the retrofit. While Lara had a general idea what was needed she needed someone to oversee the more specific aspects of it. Once that had been taken care of they had headed back to Sam's place to rest, or that was at least what Lara had thought they went there to do.

"Oh, come on, Lara. It's practically required that we go out and party after the day we've had." Sam said, trying to persuade her friend into hitting the town with her. Hey, while she might be a lot more mature than when she first met Lara, she still loved to have a good time.

"Sam, no. I'm too tired to go out." Lara responded, really the last thing she wanted to was go out and be around a lot of people right now. "Besides aren't we both still under doctor's orders to be resting?" She finished, looking pointedly at Sam's arm that was still covered in a cast up to the elbow.

"Oh you mean like how you're not supposed to be doing any stretching or strenuous activity for at least 2 more weeks, yet still get up at 6:30 to do yoga every morning?" Sam countered, enjoying the look of surprise that Lara had.

"How do you know about that? You're always still asleep!" Lara protested, she was always very careful to avoid waking her friend up.

"Because it takes you about 15 minutes every morning to get out of bed since you try to get out of whatever tangled excuse for a sleeping arrangement we're in, without me knowing." Sam said with a smile, she had to say, seeing Lara blush crimson was even better than surprising her.

"Wha- How.. how do you know about that?" Lara said, stumbling over her words in embarrassment.

"Please, I might be a heavy sleeper but even I would notice when my pillow starts moving." Sam said.

"I'm not your pillow." Lara said indignantly.

"Not always, sometimes I'm your pillow." Sam fired back, laughing at the expression Lara had at the moment, something between shock and guilt. "So what do you say we got out and find you a cute guy to use as your pillow for tonight then?" Sam suggested, bringing the conversation back around to her original topic.

"Sam, no. I'm not in the mood." Lara said, hoping that this time Sam would let the matter drop.

"A cute girl then?" Sam said, she had set that one up perfect and Lara had walked right into it.

"That would be the better option but the answer is still no." Lara muttered half under her breath as she lay back on the bed.

"Yeah that's what I thou-" Sam said, stopping mid-sentence as her mind processed what Lara had said, "Wait. Did you just say you prefer girls?"

Smirking slightly Lara answered, "Yeah I did. Weren't you listening?" It felt good to actually be able to get one up on Sam for once. "Surprised?" She should probably be more concerned with how Sam would react but she had seen her friend date both men and women so she doubted she cared much.

"What? But for how long? I mean why didn't you ever tell me before now?" Sam said, seriously this was huge, she had been trying to figure out this girl's sexuality for ages and was just about to conclude she was asexual.

"I don't know. I guess it never came up?" Lara tried; even she knew that probably wasn't going to work.

"Oh bullshit. There's plenty of times you could have mentioned this." Sam said, trying to figure out why her best friend had kept this from her.

"I'm not sure really. I knew that you wouldn't treat me any different, so it wasn't anything like that. I just never really felt comfortable bringing it up, even if I knew nothing would really change it still felt like things would have to change." Lara said rushing over her words, before reaching up to rub her forehead. "Does that make any sense at all?"

"Yeah, some. I mean, there had to be a better way to say it but I get it." Sam said as she plopped down on the bed beside Lara. "So what made you decide to tell me know? You know I wasn't actually being serious about finding you someone to spend the night with, right?"

"I know that. And I guess I just felt it wasn't as big a deal after all we went through on Yamatai. Besides given that you're bisexual I kind of doubted you'd make a big deal out of me being a lesbian." Lara explained, despite everything she had said though she was still a bit nervous.

"Well you were right about that. Mostly I'm just pissed that you didn't tell me sooner and I wasted all that time trying to set you up with guys, I guess I can stop doing that now?" Sam replied, smiling as Lara nodded more exuberantly than was probably required. Still there was one question that she just had to know the answer. "So who was the girl?"

"What girl?" Lara asked suspiciously.

"The one that made you realize your feelings. I know you pretty well and it must have been someone special to make you realize and acknowledge what you felt."

Lara just lay there in silence for a minute, pondering what to say before finally speaking up, "You're right. Of course, you'd be right, you know me better than anyone. It was the summer before I started college, I spent most of that summer doing relief work in Haiti with Roth." Lara began, her eyes half closing as she remembered the memories from what seemed like a lifetime ago. "There was this girl there, half-Pilipino, half-American and just gorgeous, and we ended up being friends and things just escalated from there. Her name was Emily and while it took a while, she was the one to finally get me to admit how I felt. After that we ended up spending that whole summer together."

"So what happened? Why did you separate?" Sam asked as it was pretty obvious they weren't still together, besides she was curious to know more now that she had finally gotten her friend to open up.

"No real reason." Lara said with a shrug. "We both knew that our relationship would end once the summer did and we had to return back to our regular lives. It was definitely the best summer I had ever had, well at least until I met you." Lara said, giving Sam playful shove.

"Thanks I appreciate that… even if I'm not sure if I believe you. So, no regrets?" Sam asked. Yeah she was probably pushing the limits of what was acceptable to ask, but it was rare to get Lara to actually talk so open like this, so who could blame her? While Lara wasn't exactly anti-social with her she still rarely talked about her own thoughts or feelings, unless it concerned archaeology

"None, I enjoyed our time together. And if nothing else I have a great memory of Roth's face when he walked in on us making out." Lara said, smiling as she remembered the expression he'd had.

"Pretty shocked, was he?" Sam asked, envisioning the scene and Roth's reaction.

"Yeah. He took it well though, just told me to remember to lock the damn door next time." Lara said, she had always been grateful Roth had taken it so well. It was much easier for her to come to terms with, when her father figure supported her unconditionally. "So knowing all this doesn't change anything between us, does it? You're not going to request I sleep on the couch or something?" Lara asked teasingly, although in reality she was a lot more nervous than she let on.

"Of course not, as far as I'm concerned your still the same Lara I knew before. Something like this isn't going to do anything to change that." Sam said, meaning every word of it. She had suspected Lara's orientation for a while so it wasn't that big of a surprise. Most of her shock had been from the cavalier way Lara had acknowledged it. As far as she was concerned, the only impact this had on their friendship was that now there was the possibility that if she chose to act own growing attraction to her best friend that Lara might actually be open to the idea. Still that was of no consequence right now, she had no plans to act on those feelings anytime soon afterall.

**Author's Note: **So if you want to get an idea of what Sam's apartment looks like think of Kirika and Mirielle's place from the anime Noir, and if you haven't seen it then go watch it, it starts slow but the last 6 or 7 episodes are great.

Oh and review please, I like those a lot more than I probably should.


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